Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) – Homes of Hope

Homes of Hope is committed to ensuring we can meet the needs of the most vulnerable population of children in order to secure positive futures for them.

TBRI the modality

Children ‘from hard places’ who have experience of developmental trauma, have changes in their bodies, brains, behaviours and self-belief systems.  These children need caregiving and support that meets them ‘where they are’ as trauma-experienced - they have unique needs.  (In our sector, we define ‘from hard places’ as those who have experienced trauma due to sustained abuse and neglect. However traumatic experiences may also include bereavement, accidents, hospitalisation etc.)

TBRI® is designed to promote resilience in the face of trauma and consists of three principles:

1. Connecting Principles – which include strategies to build healthy, trusting relationships.
2. Empowering Principles – which include strategies to meet physical needs and to promote a safe, predictable environment.
3. Correcting Principles – which provide proactive and responsive strategies to reduce the effect of stressful situations. (For both child and adult).

TBRI® offers practical tools for parents, caregivers, teachers, grandparents, and anyone who works with trauma-experienced children and seeks to help them reach their fullest potential.

Our TBRI® training is designed to move trainees from theory into practical applications. It is important to begin with the theoretical knowledge and neuroscience research to provide a strong understanding to best inform the real-life application tools taught. The aim of the training is not only to help participants understand the relationship history of ‘children from hard places’ and the effects of this on brain development, but also two critically important additional factors:

1. one’s own attachment history, experiences and internal self-awareness; along with the
2. practical tools to move forward, to deepen and strengthen connections with these children so as to affect the most positive, long-term outcomes for them.

TBRI^® uses Connecting Principles for attachment needs, Empowering Principles to address physical needs, and Correcting Principles to disarm fear-based behaviors. While the intervention is based on years of attachment, sensory processing, and neuroscience research, the heartbeat of TBRI^® is connection.

We would love to hear from you if this approach to supporting ‘children from hard places’ who are trauma experienced is something you would like to find more about.